I am a PhD physicist who…

I am a PhD physicist who follows the climate change science closely, and I am very distressed at the cancellation of the cap-and-trade system without any announcement of a replacement that will be as effective at reducing the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Already, Peterborough is experiencing 4 times as many +30 C days in the summer as it did 30 years ago. Over about a 15-year period we've had two "one-in-a-hundred-years floods", and two years ago the most serious drought in 100 years.

A recent scientific study (http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/07/31/1810141115) says that we must totally stop burning fossil fuels within ONLY 10 to 20 years, to avoid runaway climate change that may destroy all life on Earth. We have a VERY SHORT TIME to act to avoid a calamity. It is the future of our children and grandchildren that is in our hands.

However, if we act aggressively enough within the next 3 years, the benefits are enormous. A second paper says the resulting "grand economic transformation could bring a $26 trillion economic windfall, create 65 million new jobs, and avoid 700,000 early deaths linked to air pollution ― by a conservative estimate". See https://newclimateeconomy.report/ and https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/runaway-climate-change-2030-report_…

In Peterborough, about 40% of greenhouse gases come from home heating and 30% from transportation, according to the City's Climate Change Action Plan (https://sustainablepeterborough.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Chapter-1…) It is clear that the only way Peterborough can meet its commitment of a 30% reduction in its GHG emissions from the 2011 baseline by 2031 is by reducing these two sources; that is, by retrofitting existing homes for better energy efficiency and by reducing transportation emissions. The previous government incentives for home insulation and purchase of electric vehicles, paid for from income from cap-and-trade, went a long way towards reaching these goals, but your government's cancellation of them makes them almost impossible to attain. It was revenue the from cap-and-trade program that was paying for these incentives.

For all these reasons, a price on carbon is essential to the well being of our province and the world. Please reinstate this program. Our children and grandchildren's lives are depending on you. Canadians already produce much more greenhouse gas per person than most of the rest of the developed world. We have to do our part.